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So there I was, like I’d been every day for the last week or so, back at the work site checking in. Everything looked great, and I was loitering, just watching him work. He was lifting things. I liked watching him lift things. Those shoulders, those biceps, the sweaty T-shirt clinging to the muscles of his back that flexed and bunched. I may have bitten my lip. After he had unloaded the supplies, he jogged over to me.
“Good to see you back out here this week. You need anything?”
“Well,” I said, casting around for a reason to keep him talking. “I was wondering when the plumbing would be finished up.”
“Oh. I thought I already turned that in on report. It’ll be done a week from Friday best we can tell. Now that’s not all the fixtures and fittings, that’s just the pipes.”
I nodded, even though I’d already known the answer to that. I just wanted him looking at me, standing with me. My cheeks flushed and I gave a little smile.
“You’re smiling. I hope that’s a good sign, that you like what you see.”
“I very much like what I see,” I said archly, not caring if he knew I meant that I liked looking at him, and that I wasn’t talking about how the community center was coming along.
“So do I,” he said with a half-smile that sent a sizzle of desire down between my legs. “We’re almost done hanging the sheet rock.”
“Mm-hm,” I said, since he was clearly discussing the building again.
“We’re right on with my timeline since I added the extra guys,” he said. “So that’s going to come in ahead of schedule and give you plenty of time for finishing touches, and for getting everything ready for the opening.”
“Thank you,” I said. “You know that means a lot to me, and it’s pretty important for everyone involved in the project to make that opening as impressive as possible. The council’s been making noise about budget again, so I want to show them it’s going to be worth every penny.”
“It will be,” he promised.
“I believe you,” I said. I liked his confidence. What used to make me so aggravated about his arrogance was now just nice. He knew how good he was at his job, and in bed, and if he strutted around about it a little, well, he had a right to.
“You should. I’m not going to let you down, Nic,” he said. There was something in how he said it, the softness of his voice when he said my name that made goosebumps break out on my skin. I wanted to believe that more than anything. I almost felt like I could tell him my secret. But I couldn’t quite do it—there was too much at stake. My job. My entire heart and my baby’s, too.
I knew this was a dangerous game, flirting with Noah. I couldn’t help myself. Not when he was flirting right back. It was a thrill I couldn’t resist.
When I was getting my stuff together to leave one evening, he came in my office. I wanted him there. I wanted him crowding me, coming silently into my space and taking all my attention, filling my senses with the clean male sweat scent of his skin and the rasp of five o’clock shadow on his square jaw.
“I’m glad I caught you before you left,” he said.
“Everything okay?” I asked carefully, trying to hide my arousal, the way I knew my eyes were bright and my cheeks heated.
“Yeah, everything’s great. By my estimate, we’ll be done in a little under six weeks. All the light fixtures came in this afternoon, so we’re just waiting on the cabinet pulls and the door locks I special ordered.”
“The ones I picked out?”
“Yeah, I got a good deal on them.”
“I’m glad it’s working out, that it’s almost done.”
“Me, too. It’s been a hell of a ride. If you would’ve told me the night of the fire that everything was going to go this smooth and turn out perfect, I would’ve laughed at you.”
“That was a wild night,” I said quietly, willing him to remember that it had been the first night we slept together.
“That it was. One of my favorites, fire or not,” he said with a grin.
Maybe I was imagining the spark between us, maybe I was wrong and there wasn’t an answering heat in his eyes when he looked at me. But it felt like heat coiling in my belly, like I needed to get closer to him. Instead, I picked up my bag and stepped out from behind the desk.
“Thanks for letting me know,” I said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Can I walk you to your car?” he said.
“Yeah, it isn’t far,” I said, wondering why he was so protective all of a sudden. It felt so satisfying, a happy feeling in my chest that he wanted to spend another couple of minutes with me and make sure I got to my car okay.
